LONDON (AP) — Surgeons at King's College Hospital in London have removed a brain tumor from a woman who played the violin during the procedure.
Doctors for violinist Dagmar Turner, 53, mapped her brain before the surgery to identify areas that were active when she played the instrument and those responsible for controlling language and movement.
Doctors then woke her in mid-procedure, according to AP, so she could play to “ensure the surgeons did not damage any crucial areas of the brain that controlled Dagmar’s delicate hand movements,″ the hospital said in a statement.
“We knew how important the violin is to Dagmar, so it was vital that we preserved function in the delicate areas of her brain that allowed her to play,″ said Prof. Keyoumars Ashkan, her neurosurgeon. “We managed to remove over 90 percent of the tumor, including all the areas suspicious of aggressive activity, while retaining full function in her left hand.”
Doctors then woke her in mid-procedure so she could play.
That was done to make sure they did not damage areas of the brain that controlled her delicate hand movements. Turner was full of praise for her surgeon, a fellow music lover.
